Comments on: Great Martyr James the Persian. Nov 27/ Dec 10http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/
McKinney TX Homilies, scripture commentary, spiritual reflectionsWed, 05 Jun 2013 12:35:39 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.4By: Natalia Arzhantsevahttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2514
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:01:38 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2514Father, commentaries are secondary, the posts – primary. No posts – no commentaries:-) Actually, as for me, my thoughts emerge as a response to your posts. Only. The overwhelming majority of the thoughts I post here were NEVER born before. I still wonder about that, how it is possible.

God bless you for your ability of “intrusion” into my head & revolve something in it!

]]>By: Natalia Arzhantsevahttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2513
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:58:54 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2513I was familiar with some people, very clever ones, who, being clever, could not help resisting the fact that “most probably God exists, as the world is constructed in a too clever way, everything there is so properly arranged & calculated, that it’s impossible to admit that the world emerged just from chaos”. They allowed the possibility of repentance in general, but thought they could do it “some time much later”, or when they grow old. But they did not survive to that moment, unfortunately. God has different time limits.

It is also sad with Christians, as we never know whether our repentance is true, and whether it will be accepted by God. None of us can say that they are ready for passing into eternal life. Especially considering the fact that many people (like me, for instance) repeat the same sins, having confessed them hundreds of times. They may not do new sins, but the current ones, bad habits for example, are like stickers. We are even accustomed to them, and their meaning is diminished in our eyes, as we justify them as weaknesses, console ourselves that they are not mortal, that some day we’ll get rid of them. But they are like a rolling snowball, which becomes larger & larger, becoming very heavy in the end…

What also makes it worse is the moment of comparison. Seeing how other people sin, realizing that we don’t do what they do, we tend to think that we are much better…This poisoning thought affects our soul & mind. As if we just try to compare ourselves with saints, we’ll better see what we are & who we are…Besides, we don’t see how those “other people” repent, we notice their sins. I thought what – maybe we are so attentive to other people sins because it helps us to perceive our own ones, and to put up with them, and with the evil which reigns inside us?!

The last minute repentance is possible only by a special God’s plan. He then knows the virtues of the soul, even deeply hidden, and He know that the potential of this soul is not yet discovered, that the person is not yet opened fully, that there is much of good in the person’s heart, he has done much good for others. That this soul deserves the Kingdom. And He fights for every soul till the very end. But we cannot be sure that our soul deserves it, that WE have such a potential. And He does everything to disclose this potential. I know such example as well.

But we should not indulge a vain hope in reference to us. Maybe we just expired His patience by our sins & self-assurance?! We can never be sure that we haven’t buried our talents. The more I confess, the more I feel that something is not said. That the dirty hole of my soul is not yet dug out, that the stream of water is not clean. That I cannot confess properly, I don’t even say – repent…

]]>By: seraphimhollandhttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2503
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:55:54 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2503Of course, we cannot know what caused St James to apostatize, and your speculation is as good as mine. I think it is good to meditate upon such things, although not “dogmatically” of course. I think James was not a careful person, caught up with the drama of the court, and he was not thinking. I do not think he prayed much before his terrible error. The amazing thing is that people like him almost NEVER repent because they do not know how. This is the great secret that sinners do not know. They think they will repent at the end, and God will accept their repentance, but they are so callous at the end, and afflicted with the weakness of sin, that they are unable to repent. James is the exception that proves the rule, I think.
]]>By: seraphimhollandhttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2502
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:51:55 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2502Yes, the pleasures of the flesh. The only way to avoid this snare is attention and proper priorities.
]]>By: seraphimhollandhttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2501
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:51:04 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2501May God bless you and help you in all things, Vasiliki! Thank you for your kind words. The comments of Deborah and Natalia are often better than the post itself.
]]>By: Natalia Arzhantsevahttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2480
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:35:55 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2480Thank you, Father! Deborah – thank you! Your interpretation is very interesting, I never had such thoughts.

God bless you!

]]>By: Vasilikihttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2479
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:22:43 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2479I wanted to thank you for your post and also thank Deborah for her thought provoking reply, so real and true.

Vasiliki

]]>By: Vasilikihttp://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2009/12/10/great-martyr-james-the-persian-nov-27-dec-10-2/comment-page-1/#comment-2478
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:21:37 +0000http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=1487#comment-2478I dont believe it requires a lot of thought or analysis to understand how easy it can be to follow in the wrong footsteps of St James … we can simply can look at ourselves and how easy it is to get caught up in the “vanities” of life and that is how it starts.

I found it helpful to consider and speculate on the possible reasons and causes for the apostasy of St. James. In the end, it does not matter. But, for me, it is a way of identifying in my own life, possible snares and weaknesses that have the potential to be my undoing.

Fear is the first and most obvious suspect in St. James’ story for causing his apostasy. But I doubt it was fear of death–apparently he was a brave warrior who faced death on a regular basis. His fear may have been of losing his status or of endangering his family. Pride and vanity certainly must have played some role, as it does in almost everything. In the Menologian it said that he was “seduced by the Emperor’s beneficence.” He was a favorite of royalty!

I doubt his sacrifice to the pagan gods was done without any thought. He had to know the seriousness of what he was doing. So there must have been a lot of rationalization “Well, after all, I can sacrifice to the gods without really meaning it. I will still be a Christian in my heart—and God will forgive me.” and “I’m doing this for the sake of my family. They need the support that my status will bring. And I don’t want to risk endangering their lives if it is discovered that they are Christians, too.” “Perhaps by maintaining my position in the court, through my conduct I can one day convince the emperor to become a Christian!” And on and on….not truly seeking God’s will but seeking to justify his own will, all the while convincing himself his motives were pure and not really self serving.

Maybe he, like me, had used this rationalization process many times before to justify lesser sins than apostasy. Apparently he had been a very pious man, so surely he did not fall from a state of grace to apostasy overnight. How many times had he compromised on little things, kept his mouth closed when he should have spoken up and given in to temptation. He may have even confessed his weaknesses and asked for forgiveness–but made no real effort to do anything about them. The glitter of wealth and the seduction of power would be a great distraction–but “what profits it a man to gain the whole world, if he loses his own soul?”

And so a man dies by inches. Perhaps the brave and holy martyr even had this thought in mind as he was slowly cut to pieces, inch by inch, “This is what I allowed to happen to my soul.”